Cookbook review: Naples and the Amalfi Coast

Il Cucchiaio d’Argento is the ultimate reference work for recipes from Italian cuisine. And just when you think you know everything, they come out with a new edition. This time with recipes from Naples and the Amalfi Coast.

These southern Italian regions have their own cooking style, which you will not find elsewhere in Italy. And don’t worry, there is no shortage of pasta and pizza, but they do come with a specific style and ingredients.

Regional ingredients

Apricots from the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, for example, or San Marzano tomatoes, which are oh so indispensable on a Neapolitan pizza. In the Caserta region, you will find plenty of pork and lamb, hazelnuts and cheeses. In Amalfi, you eat large quantities of fresh fish and lemons with a special quality mark, which are so sweet that you can eat them as the main ingredient in a salad.

Imagine yourself in Italy

The recipes in the book are divided by region: Naples, Caserta, Salerno and the Amalfi Coast, Avellino and Beneveto. Throughout the book, there are beautiful photographs of the Italian landscape, characteristic alleyways and blazing-hot pizza ovens. As a result, you almost feel as though you are in Italy. The food photography is just as beautiful and makes you incredibly hungry.

Pastataart

Alongside the famous Neapolitan pizza, there are also several filled pizzas, some of which almost look like bread. They are all tall, round discs that can be cut into slices like a cake. The same goes for the pasta dishes; cooked spaghetti is placed in a cake tin together with its sauce and baked, resulting in a proper spaghetti pie.

What else can you expect?

Risotto with stewed fish, filled Easter bread with salami, mortadella and cheese, penne with braised meat from Genova and melanzana alla parmigiana. We are also very impressed by the sweet selection, with pastries made with nuts, rum baba, and deep-fried fritters with pastry cream and cherry jam.

What are the recipes like?

The recipes are written in the same style as those in the previous editions of Il Cucchiaio d’Argento. Sometimes brief, but always clear. It is useful if you already know what a bain-marie is, or which cut of pork is not too lean so that it remains tender after baking. But in the worst case, you can quickly Google it or ask the butcher.

Photography: ©Simon Bajada, Phaidon Press Limited, 2016

Il Cucchiaio d’Argento – Naples and the Amalfi Coast
€ 35,-
Uitgeverij Unieboek | Het Spectrum